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Friday, 26 February 2010

Bwrian Rears His Ugly head

We don’t hear from him for what seems like years and suddenly, WHAM!!! Brian Watters is back. And he’s back with a vengeance. Maybe he felt overlooked because he was not nominated in the latest Bucket Head awards or he is pining for past glory as younger and better looking anti-drug nutters make a name for themselves.

Australians are among the biggest users of ecstasy in the world, according to a United Nations report.

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) says 36 per cent of the drug seized internationally had been destined for Australia.

Board member Major Brian Watters says Australia has been very successful at reducing drug deaths and the use of heroin.

But he says the result has been a move to drugs like ecstasy, which are regarded by many people as less dangerous.

"They don't kill people so they don't have that sort of immediate dramatic effect, but they do burn people's brains and cause very serious behavioural problems," he said.

"In the emergency wards and treatment centres they will tell you they'd much rather deal with a heroin addict than a person who has been on amphetamine who has become uncontrollable."

Afghanistan

The board also found a dramatic increase in the amount of heroin being produced in Afghanistan, despite the fall in poppy production and its confinement mostly to three provinces.

Major Watters says the Taliban and other terrorist groups are continuing to finance their operations from drug production.

He says nobody knows exactly how much heroin is being produced, but it is a substantial industry.

"There's a wall of silence and the quantities they bring in of a substance called acetic anhydride has to be at a high level and highly organised," he said.

"And there'd be large shipments with road tankers with thousands and thousands of gallons, so it's a very secretive business of course, but we know they've now moved in and are now converting it into heroin."

Lets see how accurate, Brian is.

Board member Major Brian Watters says Australia has been very successful at reducing drug deaths and the use of heroin.

Watters still believes that under his guidance, the “Tough on Drugs” campaign and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) ended the heroin epidemic around 2000. Brian Watters and John Howard almost got RSI from the amount of back patting they inflicted on each other until Mick Kelty ruined the facade and confessed that the AFP had not much to do with the sudden demise of heroin flowing in from SE Asia. He concluded that the Burmese drug lords had simply switched to supplying high grade methamphetamines known as ice. Doh!

But he says the result has been a move to drugs like ecstasy, which are regarded by many people as less dangerous.

“They[ecstasy] don't kill people so they don't have that sort of immediate dramatic effect, but they do burn people's brains and cause very serious behavioural problems," he said. “In the emergency wards and treatment centres they will tell you they'd much rather deal with a heroin addict than a person who has been on amphetamine who has become uncontrollable.”

Some addicts do move to amphetamines when heroin is hard to purchase but rarely do they switch to ecstasy. It’s a great example of his ignorance when he put’s ecstasy in the same class as amphetamines. A common mistake because of MDMA is a type of amphetamine but being in a different class of drug, it has very different effects. You would think that someone from the INCB board who control and monitors drug policies worldwide would know this.

Watters said that most people regard ecstasy to be less dangerous than heroin - probably because it is. Still, you have to admire the skill Watters has for spinning anti-drug rhetoric. For example, there is too much evidence now that MDMA causes very few problems in the short term so he is forced to stop using the scary warnings he is used to. But since longer term harms are still being debated, he capitalised on the uncertainty and still manages to produce a message of fear. Decades of practice is paying off.

Major Watters says the Taliban and other terrorist groups are continuing to finance their operations from drug production.

All the bitchin’ in the world won’t hide the fact that heroin is only of value to terrorists because of UN drug policy. The UN and the INCB have the capacity to end the $400 billion annual black market for illicit drugs and the carnage that goes with it. Meanwhile, organised crime become incredibly rich and terrorists build up their cash reserves. Yet they plod on, decade after decade with their failed policies and moralistic messages while millions are sent to jail or banished to a life of misery.

Brian Watters is responsible for many of Australia’s worst drug policy decisions. He helped John Howard shut down the proposed ACT heroin trials, alienated several members of the ANCD and had them removed, help establish Drug Free Australia (DFA) and defamed the reputation of The Salvation Army. He is a major critic of harm minimisation and even said:

Heroin addiction is a fate worse then death

-Brian Watters. Salvation Army, Board Member of the INCB

A staunch prohibitionist, he argues that alcohol prohibition in the US during the 1920/30s was a success.

It [alcohol prohibition] was the most lawful period in US history

-Brian Watters. Salvation Army, Board Member of the INCB

And if you’re not convinced Watters should never be allowed to dictate drug policy, there’s this:

Drug addiction is a sin

-Brian Watters. Salvation Army, Board Member of the INCB

The INCB is the ultimate anti-drug group. The Valhalla for anti-drug warriors, earthly heaven for anti-drug crusaders, the Mecca of reefer madness. The INCB monitors the implementation of U.N. drug control conventions worldwide which is very handy for the UN when they want to encourage rogue countries to do the right thing e.g keep harsh laws for drug use, not to promote too many harm reduction strategies etc.

Many drug law reformists want the INCB disbanded. The current board consists of representatives from Russian, China, Nigeria and of course, Brian Watters who all support hardline prohibitionist drug policies. They have very few reporting requirements to the UN and can basically do what they want. There is no appeal process or any official channel to question their decisions. Many reformist groups see them as a secretive organisation, set up to do the dirty work for the US/UN under the UN banner.

The statement from Watters was not the only recent media announcement from the INCB. They have also criticised the Latin American countries that have started to rethink their drug policies by decriminalising drugs. And they put out a warning about the growing trend for abusing pharmaceutical drugs. Why all these statements from the INCB came at once is a mystery. Maybe they are sensing their own demise as the world starts questioning their role in the bloody battle against drug users?

The Australian Heroin Diaries has been chosen as one of the top 8 blogs in 2009 by AllTreatment.com:

This is a news driven blog, that writes about and commentates on different countries drug policies. The author is a recovering heroin addict which gives a unique view and a much different one from politicians on drug politics. A must read for anyone interested in the politics of drug use and substance abuse.